reporter | Chen Qirui
editor | Lou Qinqin
Kanye West, the most frustrated person in the fashion industry in 2022, has disappeared from public view for several weeks.
The pop star was previously involved in a lawsuit due to financial disputes. Thomas St. John, the former manager of the plaintiff, recently told the media that the local court in Los Angeles was unable to contact him for nearly two weeks. The last time Kanye West was photographed by a gossip magazine was on December 14th. Speculations that
was missing immediately arose, but so far no relatives, friends or management companies directly related to Kanye West have come out to respond. Considering that he is almost "alone", it is not easy to contact him directly. He had already broken up with the Kardashian family after his divorce, and his contract with Universal Music Group expired after the release of Donda.
Not to mention his partnerships with Balenciaga , Adidas and Gap.
first ended its cooperation with Balenciaga and Gap. It was an obvious limited-time three-party cooperation with Balenciaga and Gap, while it originally signed a 10-year agreement with the latter. In September, Gap Group issued a statement stating that the two parties decided to terminate the cooperation early due to differences in concepts, but the originally planned series will be sold normally.
Until October Paris Fashion Week , Kanye West also opened the Balenciaga fashion show. At the subsequent Yeezy conference, American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Balenciaga CEO Cédric Charbit and Alexandre Arnault, the son of LVMH Group CEO, were all present in person.
Despite the constant controversy, Kanye West was still the darling of the fashion industry at that time. Everything took a turn for the worse after the Yeezy conference.
A T-shirt with "White Lives Matter" printed on the back instantly sparked a crusade on social media. After Vogue's African-American editor Gabriella Karefal-Johnson wrote an article criticizing the inappropriateness of the design, Kanye West immediately mocked it, leading to him being labeled a bully.
Originally, the matter was supposed to come to an end after Kanye West reconciled with Gabriella Karefal-Johnson, but then his anti-Semitic remarks in an interview with the media caused waves again. This was accompanied by all kinds of troubles. A school invested and built by Kanye West was accused of not having the actual ability to run a school, and the relationship with Virgil Abloh was also revealed to have broken down early.
This time the fashion industry can no longer tolerate it. Balenciaga announced early that the two parties have ended all cooperative relationships; Gap has withdrawn all cooperation series originally planned for sale. The fatal blow came from Adidas, which announced the termination of its cooperation with Kanye West amid the turmoil. American sneaker platform Foot Locker also stated that it would stop selling all Yeezy products.
At this point, Kanye West has almost lost the reputation he established in the fashion industry. On the program of American right-wing conservative Alex Jones, he even claimed that he "saw the excellent qualities in Hitler" and "I love the Jews, but I also love the Nazis." After these remarks, there is almost no hope for him to make a comeback in the fashion industry in the short term.
Once upon a time, Kanye West could be regarded as one of the most influential figures in the fashion industry.
Kanye West has always had a fashion dream. After becoming a pop superstar, he laid down his status and went to Fendi to become an intern in 2009. By 2011, he applied to attend Central Saint Martins in England, but was rejected. In the " Wall Street Journal " report, he even discussed the establishment of a personal brand with Bernard Arnault.
But just when Kanye West continued to fail in the field of luxury fashion, he began to gain success in the mass fashion market. The sneaker series collaborated with Nike has affected the sneaker industry, and the resale price remains high to this day. Yeezy, developed after switching to Adidas, used the model of co-branding and thirsty marketing, which influenced subsequent street fashion.
It can even be said that although Kanye West has not entered any high-end fashion house, he is the most core figure in the entire street fashion era. Behind the street trend is the black culture rooted in American society. It was originally enjoyed by small circles with subcultural characteristics such as rap, graffiti, and skateboarding.
Rap and hip-hop artists were and still are major players in bringing this culture to the masses, showcasing street-style outfits in music videos and concerts. By 2017, hip-hop music finally occupied an absolute dominant position in the music scene, surpassing rock for the first time to become the music style with the highest sales in the United States, marking that the influence of black culture on mainstream culture is huge enough.
Kanye West was already a pop star at this time. Since his first solo album The College Dropout in 2004, he has become the darling of music critics and sales charts. His powerful sampling technology and diverse creative styles have made him one of the most influential singers of this era.
When he started to get involved in the fashion field, his influence naturally covered the entire industry. Virgil Abloh and Matthew Williams have both been supported by Kanye West. When the Yeezy fashion series debuted in 2015, Anna Wintour said "please find someone else to comment"; and in 2022, this controversial show will be held, and important figures in the entire industry will not want to miss it.
From these perspectives, Kanye West was already famous enough before being “canceled” by netizens and brands one after another. Even if his fashion status is no longer there, the reputation he established in the music field is enough to continue to influence the entire industry. This is in fact the most important cultural contribution he left.
What really suffers are the brands that choose to terminate their contracts with him. Gap and Adidas have been in deep growth troubles in recent years, and their cooperation with Kanye West is the driving force for performance growth.
Gap Group once said that Yeezy Gap's co-branded sweatshirt has become the product with the highest online sales in a single day since the founding of Gap, and attracted 70% of new consumers. The down jacket, which was launched earlier, has become a frequent sight on the street photos of a large number of fashion bloggers in hot climates.
According to the 2021 financial report released by Adidas, the revenue of the Yeezy series is nearly 1.7 billion US dollars, accounting for nearly 10%. In the most recent fiscal year, the growth rate of was as high as 31%. After the news of the termination of cooperation came out, Adidas stock price fell. Following the termination of the partnership, Adidas expects to have a negative impact of €250 million on the company's net income.
Although Kanye West still owns the Yeezy trademark rights, according to Adidas, the company still holds the copyright for all Yeezy designs in the past few years. Gap Group did not make a statement on the relevant situation. But in any case, these companies have nothing to do with Kanye West.
On social media platforms at home and abroad, some shoe collecting enthusiasts said that they regard Yeezy as a brand independent of Kanye West and pay attention to the stories behind the shoes. But the reality is that Yeezy has been bound to Kanye West and is an extension of his strong influence in the field of pop culture.
A more common follow-up may be that these companies change the original Yeezy and cooperation styles before selling them. In fact, the changes that will occur in Kanye West's life in the future may cause consumers to snap up some styles to commemorate him. But after losing the halo of Kanye West, the once scarce internet celebrity models will become ordinary public models.
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